102-year old St Stephen’s College Set to Change its Functioning

102-year old St Stephen’s College Set to Change its Functioning

Published on : Nov 20, 2015

St. Stephen’s College announced its plan to make a sea change its operations with the Church of North India. The draft proposed by Valson Thampu, Principal of St Stephen’s College states that the task of student admission and faculty appointment will be given to the supreme council of the college. This obviously means that the governing body will be largely powerless. The handover of the power would mean that the principal will be able to take disciplinary action against staff and students, without the involvement of the governing body.

Presently, the supreme council has five Church of North India (CNI) members and the college principal. CNI was initially responsible for appointing the principal and protecting the minority status of the college.

The 16-member governing body will vote for or against this draft amendment on the 23rd of November 2015. The news has only brought in fear of destruction of secular and intellectual posture of the college that it has maintained over several years.

A senior teacher stated that this moves comes as an intention to establish Christian dominance in this Delhi University’s institution. If the amendment has to go through it will eliminate the balances and checks. The present point of view suggests that the intellectual and secular interests of the college will be severely compromised. Nandita Narain, a teacher at the college stated that the principal will also have a say in deciding the staff increments. She further added that the legitimacy of these changes cannot be established.